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Production Packets

Director JJ Abrams and Writer Lawrence Kasdan on set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Different types of productions require different types of preparation. Students are producing 30 second PSA’s, hype videos, short documentaries, short fiction films, and television productions. The goal is the same: be as prepared as possible. Know what you are shooting, what you need to shoot it (equipment), assemble everything that appears in front of the cameras (costumes/props/locations/actors), and rehearse. Sometimes, the hardest part is getting the whole crew and cast together at one time in on place; you want to take full advantage of this time.

Below are the expectations for the production packet for different types of productions:

Fiction Film

Treatment: a paragraph or two describing your film from start to end. Your treatment should describe the theme, characters (and their motivations), the story (where are we? What happens?), and style.

Shooting schedule (which scenes are you shooting when; start by breaking down your script into scenes–each new location is a scene)

Contact information for all cast and crew

Non-Fiction Film (documentary)

Treatment: a paragraph or two describing your film from start to end. Your treatment should describe the theme, subjects (and their motivations), the story (place, time frame, events), and style.

List of interviewees with questions for each.

Shotlist (a list of shots, typed)

List of locations

List of actors

List of props

Equipment list

Shooting schedule (which scenes are you shooting when; start by breaking down your script into scenes–each new location is a scene)

Contact information for all cast and crew

PSA (Public Service Announcement)

If making a PSA, you should come up with more than one (2-3 separate ideas to convince your audience).

Treatment: a paragraph describing your PSA from start to end. Your treatment should describe the theme, characters, the story (where are we? What happens?), style, and message (what is the tag line or “call to action”).

Storyboard. Draw your film, shot for shot.

Shotlist (a list of shots, typed)

List of locations

List of actors

List of props

Equipment list

Shooting schedule (which scenes are you shooting when; start by breaking down your script into scenes–each new location is a scene)

Contact information for all cast and crew

Television production

NOTE: A TV Production needs to be coordinated with CCTV (see Kester Kruger). You need to arrange the following:

Ask permission and get your show on the schedule

Find out how many crew members you will need

You may need to schedule and pass a tech test with CCTV (separate from our class) to gain access to the studio

Get the format needed for the teleprompter (file type, how the script should look) as well as file types for anything you plan to produce in advance and roll in (ie opening sequence, graphic bumpers, etc)

Treatment: a paragraph or two describing your show from start to end. Your treatment should describe the type of show, talent, specific segments, and style.

Script. This needs to be formatted for a teleprompter.

Outline. List by time (0-30 seconds, 30-1 minute) on the left, with each segment (Intro roll in, first story, cut to reporter in field, back to studio, weather report, cut to commercial, etc)

List of locations

List of talent and crew (by position)

List of props

Equipment list

Shooting schedule (which scenes are you shooting when; start by breaking down your script into scenes–each new location is a scene)

Contact information for all cast and crew

JJ Abrams consults R2D2 on the script for Star Wars: The Force Awakens